


Seeing Red

by ElReyCiervo



Series: Otherworldly AU--Adjacent [1]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: AU of an AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Deviant Upgraded Connor | RK900, Hospitals, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Post-Pacifist Best Ending (Detroit: Become Human), Post-Peaceful Android Revolution (Detroit: Become Human), Powers and Abilities, Protective Nines, Protective Upgraded Connor | RK900, Protectiveness, Red Ice (Detroit: Become Human), Red Ice Raid, Shadow Manipulation, Shadows - Freeform, Supernatural Elements, Temperature Manipulation, injuries, reed900
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:35:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26072005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElReyCiervo/pseuds/ElReyCiervo
Summary: Nines goes off the handle after he witnesses Gavin being attacked by a powerful Other during a Red Ice raid. He is lost to reason and Connor can barely hold him back. Gavin is injured and afraid Nines won't come back to himself, lost in rage and protective instinct.Commission fic for Wolften Dragon! This is an AU of my Otherworldly AU, which is suggested to be read before this. (Can be found on my AO3; link is also here: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1314029)
Relationships: Connor & Upgraded Connor | RK900, Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Series: Otherworldly AU--Adjacent [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1892725
Comments: 2
Kudos: 64





	Seeing Red

**Author's Note:**

  * For [WolftenDragon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolftenDragon/gifts).



> Disclaimer: I do not own Detroit: Become Human
> 
> Rating: M
> 
> Warnings: Violence, language, drugs, mention of homicide (and alluded to child homicide in one comment), injuries, and general canon-typical themes. 
> 
> Notes: My Otherworldly AU should probably be read before this in order to get a better background understanding. Although this fic is mostly DBH with creepy supernatural powers, it would still be best to read the Otherworldly AU series first. (Can be found on my AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1314029). This fic is also the beginning of my Otherworldly AU--Adjacent series, which is essentially the same series with elements changed. For example, the main series pairing is strictly RK1700 (Connor/Nines). This fic was commissioned to be Reed900 (Gavin/RK900) with Connor and Nines having a brotherly relationship.
> 
> Additionally, I am aware that DBH is a series whose main characters are in the police. Please note that if any of Nines’s actions were committed IRL, he would be reprimanded appropriately and taken off-duty. While I do enjoy writing for the DBH fandom—lots of cool funky androids and such—I do not support the police and stand with BLM, thank you.

“Get away!” Nines thundered.

“Nines, you have to stop!” Connor shouted back.

Deaf to his plea, Nines charged forward, clashing against Connor’s shadows with his own.

Gavin gritted his teeth; he was getting sluggish and weak. Slumped against a wall and pins and needles prickling through his side, and he was all but useless. Pain radiated from his hip, even more so as his tired hands pressed down on the wound. Hot blood leaked between his fingers at a steady, but slow rate. He’d been shot before—what cop hadn’t?—but it wasn’t even a bullet. The thing that had lodged itself in his hip was a shard of steel-hard ice, and it left him immobile. He wasn’t dumb enough to remove it, but _Christ_ , it was agony. From the grinding he felt any time he made the smallest of movements, it might have even fractured part of his pelvis. He direly hoped against it.

No more officers could enter the apartment right now. It was too dangerous for both them and Connor, Nines, Anderson, and himself. If more people entered right now, it would not be good for anyone involved.

_For Christ’s sake, how did everything go so damn wrong?_

It should have just been a standard drug raid, but as per their department’s shitty luck, everything went south. Although Anderson, Connor, Nines, and himself worked homicide, they were needed for the operation for three reasons: first was obvious, they needed the manpower as it was going to be a large bust; second, Anderson had the most experience with Gavin following second in the selected group; and third, androids had been involved. Information from the investigation prior had revealed that androids were being kidnapped, drained, and subsequently killed for their thirium in order to make Red Ice. Disgusting. The plan had been to surround the perimeter, detain the drug criminals, and bag up all the evidence for processing (and disposal of the Red Ice). On paper, it was solid.

In reality, however…

A large shadow hand that sprang from Nines’s outstretched arm swiped in Connor’s direction, aiming to rake him across the chest. Connor was able to dodge swiftly by dropping into a crouch and twisting away. Instead of hitting Connor, the thick, clawed shadow hand shattered a bunch of glass beakers and pipettes of varying sizes and broke the table they had been resting on. Nines let loose a loud growl in frustration and anger. He surged forward once again. Even from Gavin’s spot against the wall, he could see the cobalt blaze of Nines’s eyes in the shitty lighting of the old building. The RK900 wasn’t holding himself back, and from the red glow of the other android’s eyes, neither was Connor.

Frustration, and admittedly, worry, coursed through Gavin’s body as he could only watch the two androids clash, shadows wild and dangerous. He had been a witness to them sparring before, but he had never seen them like this. This was no spar—both of them were going all out. Mostly. Connor was on the defensive while Nines was relentless in his hound-like assault. With the strong familial relationship those two had, he would have never thought he would see them like this. He was beyond annoyed and angry with himself as he could not help Connor, and he was actually worried for the tinman. He could tell Connor didn’t want to fight Nines, didn’t want to hurt one of the people he cared about, but he had no choice about it. Eyes glowing, sharp teeth bared, and shadow claws overlaid over his hands, Nines was in full attack mode ready to maim.

And kill.

This shouldn’t have happened.

_And it’s all my fucking fault._

“I know we needed a lot of guys,” Gavin said as he suited up in his gear, “but I kinda think this is a little much.” He ignored the jittery feelings in his arms.

There were a few other guys in the locker room, mostly newer officers, but they paid Gavin and Nines no mind. The others had already strapped on their gear and were on the way out by the time Gavin was getting his on. The Detective was thankful for this as he was not in the mood to deal with anxious officers on their first Red Ice raid.

Nines, only outfitted in an extra bullet-proof vest, was waiting for Gavin on one of the benches in the locker room. They were the only ones in there right now. “Precaution is best in these types of situations, Detective.” One of his legs was crossed over the other, and honestly, it should be illegal to look that composed and hot—especially considering they were about to leave on a drug bust. Damn him and his long, long legs.

Gavin looked over his shoulder. “C’mon. They already had Anderson and Connor for this mission. I get if it was just Anderson. I mean, he is getting there in age,” he ignored Nines’s reproach of ‘be nice’, “but they have the tinman with them. I’ve seen how you guys can fight and take down criminals.” And he wasn’t just talking about their combat skills. Their Otherworldly abilities were no joke.

(The guy who tried to jump Connor on his way home the other week could attest to that. From Connor’s clothing that day, a simple blue button-up with a light gray jacket and pants, he had thought the tinman was a helpless office pencil pusher he could rob. What a clown. The sprained wrist the EMT tended to before they held him overnight at the precinct spoke of the quick, and rather humiliating, take down. From Connor’s telling of it, it had been a simple snap a shadow tendril to bat the gun out of the assailant’s hand. From Nines’s telling of it after seeing it through an interface later the next day, the guy had cried because he was in over his head and thought it was the end for him even as Connor sat with him after handcuffing him, waiting for the backup to arrive.)

“That may be, but we do not know the exact number of people involved other than being more than expected.” He handed Gavin his arm guards to which Gavin murmured his thanks. “We know for certain that there are at least twenty individuals involved, but there could be as many as thirty or even forty. Connor is incredibly skilled in all of his abilities,” the tone of admiration in his voice was not lost to Gavin, “but even he is just one person. Otherworldly abilities or not.”

“I know that. I read the file intel, genius.” The intel was detailed, listing out who the known people were, the layout of the building, and how many androids were suspected to still be missing. This was routine, he could do this. Everything was going to be fine. He tightened the straps of his arm guards as he turned to Nines. “I do have some common sense.”

A small smirk. “I wonder, sometimes.”

“Asshole.”

“I believe that is your role.”

Shutting his locker door, Gavin rolled his eyes. Although he was used to Nines’s sass, he was especially appreciative of it now as it made everything feel normal. He didn’t say anything for a few moments, instead trying to work out the nervous energy he was feeling by drumming his fingers against the metal of the locker door. The dull rapping of it echoed around them.

The last two of the new guys were lingering, making conversation between themselves and occasionally talking about their worries about the raid. Normally this wouldn’t bother Gavin as he could just ignore useless chatter, but fucking hell, he just wanted a moment alone with Nines for like two seconds. Was that too much to ask for? As the higher-ranking officer, he probably should have said some kind of reassurances or whatever since it was their first raid, but he could leave that kind of shit to Anderson. Entirely over them, he cleared his throat loudly, and when the newbies looked at him, he gave them a very pointed glare that spoke volumes of his irritation. “If you got that much energy to stand and yabber about movies, you got that same energy to prep for the assignment. Get out of here.”

They scrambled out of there like mice. It was pretty funny, he wasn’t gonna lie.

Once the men left, Nines stood up. He reached out to hold the hand Gavin was still using to drum against the metal. The rapping noise stopped. “You are nervous,” he observed.

Gavin frowned. “I’m not. And don’t scan me either.”

“I have not,” Nines squeezed his hand, the sensation of it having been dulled slightly with the thick glove Gavin was wearing.

A sigh escaped Gavin. He knew everything would be fine. They had enough manpower, the intel they received was thorough, and they had skilled officers ready to do their job. Despite that knowledge, there was something in that was making him on edge. It didn’t help that his mind kept fucking with him and making him think of ways Nines could get hurt. “It’s fine, I can handle myself, ya know. I probably drank too much coffee or something.”

Boy, did he love Nines—the other man could comb through his bullshit without bringing attention to it. “I know you can handle yourself, but I will protect you.” As he said this, he let a thin shadow hand curl around Gavin’s wrist. It said more than enough: that Nines would protect him from any harm that could get to Gavin through both normal and Other means.

He couldn’t feel the temperature of it, but the pressure was grounding, nonetheless. “Good thing I have a Terminator as my partner, then.”

This time it was Nines that sighed, fond but exasperated.

Gavin laughed.

Just as they were about to leave, the android squeezed his hand again, this time a little tighter. It was this pressure that made Gavin realize something. Nines's put-together demeanor was only surface level. “You’re worried,” he pointed out.

Nines didn’t say anything at first, but a wane quirk of his lips, along with a brief flash of yellow from his LED, betrayed him. “Is it that noticeable?” he asked after a stretch of silence.

“Nah, I just know you too well.”

Nines hummed but did not let go of his hand. His shadow did not dissipate either. He was clearly occupied with something—probably running calculations or preconstructions or whatever the hell they were called of all the things that could go wrong during the raid. His own form of anxiety. Gavin hated seeing his tinman like this, didn’t suit him. Although he knew that they were the last ones in the locker room, he double-checked just in case before leaning into Nines’s space. A quick kiss was pressed against the taller man’s lips, jarring him out of his thoughts.

Ice blue eyes blinked at him, startled. “Perhaps…I am more concerned about this than I previously anticipated for you to be able to surprise me,” he conceded. His tone was almost sheepish. 

Gavin reached up to brush away that dumb stray lock of hair of his from his face. Those eyes he loved never left him. “How about this?” he suggested, tone light to try and shake off some of that worry from Nines. “I’ve been in a few drug raids before, so I know what shit to look out for. You have all those fancy-shmancy robo systems of yours to let us know stuff in advance and to look out for stuff we can’t see. You watch my back, I watch yours. That sound like a solid plan to you?”

“We will protect each other, then.” After a moment, the shadow around his hand slinked away back to its origin at Nines’s natural shadow at his feet.

He felt a bit lighter. “ _Exactly._ Time to go, Terminator.

* * *

Thank _fucking_ God that it wasn’t raining tonight, because the weather was cold enough without freezing water vomiting from the sky. Detroit was great and all, but holy hell was the weather shit sometimes. Even with the heat pumping in the cabins of their vehicles, the bitter cold of the outside promised nothing pretty as soon as they stepped out of them. Gavin wanted his coffee.

Instead of his own self-driving car, he was in one of their larger reinforced vehicles that could fit double the amount of people. (Raids were always tricky and could go south faster than a fat cat to food, so it was always prudent to use the stronger, more durable vehicles. He knew this first hand after his first drug raid—they had neglected to use reinforced vehicles, and an officer had died after a cocktail of incredibly flammable liquids had shattered the glass of their car window and blew up the whole thing with them still in it. It hadn’t been pretty.) Nines sat next to him while Anderson and Connor were across from them. Beside Nines and Connor on either side were four more officers who Gavin hadn’t bothered to learn names of. Of those four were two of the newbies who had been in the locker room who now looked like they were about to vibrate out of their seats from nerves. He wanted to sigh. They needed more training for this, but there were only so many ways a person could train for something like this.

Like his coworkers, he was donned in gear, firearm at his side, and wanting this whole thing to be over and done with. It had been fifteen minutes since they left the precinct, but with every minute that passed, an uncomfortable unease settled inside of him. His stomach twisted as if he had too much caffeine and not enough water, but he hadn’t had any coffee since 5PM. That had been three hours ago.

Hunching over slightly in order to rest his elbows on his knees, he balanced his forehead on his hands. Sans Nines, he knew they would think he had too much coffee or something—his usual past bitching was coming in clutch right now, thankfully. His hands obscured his eyes, so he used this in order to observe the people in the vehicle as not to be accused of staring outright. Nines wouldn’t mind him staring—the exact opposite, in fact—but Gavin didn’t want to give the others an excuse to make a comment. A quick one-over at his partner made him feel better, even now after they had talked in the locker room. Nines looked to be focused inward, LED cycling a lazy blue as he was most likely going over some mind of data. Probably going over the floor plans and layout of their destination. Otherwise, the man was sitting straight against his seat, the perfect image of collected.

On the outside, anyway.

But that was fine. Gavin knew how Nines behaved, so he wasn’t worried right now.

Directly across from him, Connor sat similar to Nines, posture straight but with his hands flicking his trademark coin between them as he talked to Anderson. Not that he would ever tell him this to his face, but those coin tricks were pretty impressive. Sometimes he would watch Connor from across the office and be utterly baffled how it was physically possible to manipulate a quarter like that. Now, as he watched him, he wasn’t sure what was making him flick it around so quickly. Idleness? Anxiety? He didn’t know.

He didn’t dislike Connor per se—Nines would literally kill him if he had kept on his Hating Connor Campaign—but they weren’t at BFF status either. November 2038 had been about a year ago, and Gavin wasn’t dumb enough to think a lot of shit couldn’t change in a year. They were on better terms now, but the man was just so weird. He wasn’t sure if his general weirdness was just a Connor-thing or an android-thing, but the human was glad he was in a relationship with Nines and not Connor. (He might have pulled out his hair if he ever hypothetically wanted to date— _ew_ —Connor.)

Across from him, Anderson had his arms crossed over his barrel chest, body directed in Connor’s direction as the two made low conversation. His legs were stretched out in front him, tapping the floor with one foot. He looked tired but was without the tension that bespoke of experience. Gavin hated to admit (aloud), but the old man looked to be back to the sharpness he had been before the accident that took his son and all the drinking. His face looked healthier without all that alcohol in his system, and he had been upkeeping his hair and beard so that he didn’t look like a drunk hobo anymore. Man had even got himself into an AA program last year. The drinking and the (partially) self-inflicted tanking of his career might have turned their relationship sour before—and even now, they were still pretty much on we’re-getting-there civil terms—but Gavin was…thankful? relieved? that there was a seasoned officer here to help him keep the operation running smoothly. And to keep an eye on those green officers.

The two officers next to Connor looked as if they could not keep still. The one whose helmet covered her dark brunette ponytail kept bouncing her leg up and down, looking around the interior of where they all sat as if she could find something to distract her. With only themselves, their seats, their gear, and the skinny windows at the top, it was unlikely she was finding anything useful. He didn’t know her by name, but he had seen her around, mostly when the night shift arrived to take over for the day shift. The only reason he was able to remember her face from the handful of new academy graduates was that he saw her one day in the gym benching _a grown ass man_ more than twice her size like he was a bag of lumpy potatoes.

Why the hell was she nervous? If anything went wrong, she could probably just _hurl_ a drug dealer out a window or something! Gavin would keep an eye on her, see how she would do on this. If she did well, he might want to work with her in the future. He was…interested to see her potential.

The guy next to her, skinnier than her but much taller, almost like a weed. This one—Gavin thought his name might have been Mark or Matthew or Mike or some M-name like that—only had blipped up in Gavin’s memory because he had been fast like nobody’s business. He had seen him chase down a perp at a speed not unlike some juiced track runner. Really, the only person who he’d ever seen, naturally, come close to matching Nines’s or Connor’s speeds. (Red Ice-induced druggies charging at them or running away did not count.) Any visible skin not covered by his gear was splattered in freckles, and his curly ginger hair was pushed back neat with a headband. He held his shield in his hands. He kept lightly beating the top of it with his hands in alternating patterns like he was trying to remember one song after another. This guy would be another to keep an eye on. Fast reflexes and good speed were good qualities to have in an officer—hopefully he’d stay around after this assignment.

Unfortunately, the two men across from Bench Press Lady and Speedy M had not been officers that Gavin’s brain had remembered much about despite seeing them in the locker room earlier. The darker skinned just had only been on, like, one of the same shifts as the Detective. He’d only seen the blond heavier one about three times previously, mostly going out to do patrols that the newer guys were stuck doing.

He wouldn’t let them, ya know, die or anything, but they needed to do something to actually stick out in Gavin’s head. _As long as they don’t do anything dumb._

He felt a flick on his elbow and looked up to catch Nines’s eyes. “Be nice, Detective.”

He scoffed, sitting back up straight and leaning back. “I said not one word. Haven’t done anything, so get those robo eyes checked.”

“My optics are just fine, thank you.” Nines leaned down slightly to murmur softer in Gavin’s ear. (He tried not to shiver.) “The newer officers will be just fine and will perform as they have been trained to. I am positive they will meet the required expectations.” The amusement in his voice, however, was not lost onto Gavin.

“Mind your business,” he replied in turn, tone light. “And when did you power back out of sleep mode, you laptop? You looked occupied.”

Nines ignored his purposefully incorrect terminology and simply said, “I have somehow developed a sense that informs me of when you are thinking something you probably should not.” A smirk quirked his lips. “My systems have deemed it the ‘Gavin-Is-Being-Woefully-Gavin’ data package.”

“Asshole.”

“Nothing of the sort.”

Anderson addressed the four other officers in the vehicle. “Even though this is going to be a bigger raid than what could be considered ‘normal’, the procedure is going to be the same. Secure the perimeter, detain the guys inside as safely as possible to mitigate injury, rescue the androids, document everything, and collect the Red Ice.”

The heavier blonde guy spoke up, a little wane. “Those guys are, uh, probably going to be high on the Red Ice, right?”

“Sharp one, aren’t you?” Anderson sighed as if he expected the question, which he probably had. “Not gonna lie to you kid, that’s going to be the most likely scenario. Even though there’s a 'policy' against sampling from your own stock, a lot of people that make Red Ice often ignore that. That’s why a lot of their operations eventually fail,” he let out a humorless laugh. “They get too addicted to what they sell.”

Too addicted was an understatement. Gavin had seen what 'too addicted' often left someone who made Red Ice. Paranoid, angry, unpredictable, and pretty much off their rocker were just a few common signs, if he were being generous. He’d seen a woman tear off almost all her hair from anxiety and paranoia in her holding cell after they arrested her. She has been crying those whole not and had vomited from sheer stress. Another guy had been so violent that he had needed to be restrained—for both his and their safety—because he kept slamming the whole ass weight of his 6 foot, 220 pound-and-then-some frame. His angry, bloodshot eyes bulging out of his head had not been something Gavin could forget even till this day. Another person had simply shot themselves when they realized the DPD had come to shut down their operation and arrest all of them. One look at their uniforms, and all that was left of them was a spray of red against a wall and a body on the floor. He didn’t like to remember what happened to the other people.

Suffice to say, his own first Red Ice raid hadn’t been pretty. Not by a long shot.

He still couldn’t eat Pop Rocks candy, even now several years since that raid. Too similar, even if it was just candy.

He didn’t pity the newbies here. But, even the small part of him that actually kept others in mind hoped their first raid wouldn’t be as awful as his.

The blonde guy paled at the answer, but otherwise didn’t say anything more. It was almost as if Anderson has confirmed a great fear of his, which was, for all intents and purposes, exactly what happened. Actually, he seemed to confirm all the newbies’ concerns cuz they all seemed to go a little clammy. At least Benchpress Lady seemed like she was quickly collecting herself.

Anderson continued, again mainly addressing the newer officers. “Just stay sharp, and you should be okay. Once we arrest the guys and secure the area, rescuing the androids are going the main priority.”

This time it was Connor who chimed in as he added on to Anderson, “I do not have one hundred positivity as to what they teach you in the police academy—it has not been that long since the revolution, after all—but be careful with these androids.” He pointed to his own chest where Gavin knew was the area that had his thirium pump. “Androids who have lost vast amounts of thirium may be erratic in addition to the possibilities of being scared, fatigued, and close to deactivation. We are not sure what status they are in, so you must be careful for both your protection and theirs.”

He had a good point, Gavin had to concede. He just didn’t think the tin can would take the academy into consideration.

“Is…uh, is there any differences on how to treat the androids versus humans?” Speedy M asked.

“Nothing that would constitute too much in differing actions,” Nines took the opportunity to reply. “Same as a human victim, an android victim will need a lot of attention and thoughtfulness. Different to a human, however, is that an android will need their power supply and thirium levels checked.” He paused for a moment, seeming to consider something, and then tacked on, “Although, I do suppose thirium levels and human blood levels are that different when comparing them. Thirium does evaporate after a while, on the other hand.”

Gavin frowned, latching on to Nines’s train of thought. “That could be a problem, right? Thirium evaporates, so we can’t see it. There could be androids and shit they’re hiding away from us. Shoved in places we won’t be able to find without a visible blood trail.” He’d seen that shit before—victims that had been found only thanks to traces of blood the killer had missed when hiding the body. And small places only tended to hide two types of homicide victims: those who have been butchered up to fit into those small, cramped spaces…and those whose bodies were already small and tiny to begin with…

The latter needed no explanation and it was something Gavin wasn’t comfortable thinking about.

The vehicle swerved in a hard turn, and all of them had to sway with the motion to keep their balance. One of the new officers hadn’t buckled in, so he went sliding into his companion next to him since he wasn’t prepared. Gavin would have laughed but he knew how to read the mood. Not the time or the place. (He’d laugh about it when he got home, though—the guy’s startled face was pretty ridiculous). The Detective saw the lights changing outside from the thin slits they called windows towards the top of the vehicle. They were getting close. Not too long now.

Connor tapped his cheekbone just under one of his eyes. “That will not be something to worry about. The RK series, models 800 and above, have been equipped with the ability to see dried thirium trails longer than the standard android.” Here, his mouth quirked into a grin like he was the coolest thing on earth since sliced bread, the bastard, “Our optics will be able to see what you cannot.”

If the newbies looked a little impressed (read: awed and star struck) at this, Connor didn’t comment. He also didn’t comment when one of them let out a long _‘cooooool’_ when Connor finished. Both he and Nines, however, seemed to preen a bit at the attention.

Peacocking bastards, the both of them. They had fancy eyes, so what?

“Look alive, people,” Anderson stood up once the vehicle ceased moving. “We’re here.”

“Oh…lovely,” the darker-skinned guy—damn, Gavin really needed a name for him—from the locker room looked as if the Lieutenant had said they’d just arrived for D-Day or that they were about to defuse live bombs.

As they began to step out of the vehicle, Gavin couldn’t help himself. Once Anderson, Connor, and Nines had exited in front of him, he turned to the newbies who were following behind him. “And if you see some creepy Otherworldly shit in there,” he grinned and pointed at the androids, “go running to those toasters over there. Gotta fight fire with fire, if ya know what I mean.”

He held in a snort when he heard one of them croak out to the others, “Is it too late to move to a desk position?”

At the same time, Speedy M’s voice was nearly shrill when he hissed in a panicked whisper, “Wait, why didn’t anyone tell me we had Others on the team!”

They would be fine.

* * *

They were not, in fact, fine.

The original plan was to split up into two groups, Anderson and Connor with two of the newbies while Nines and himself with the other two. The location they were raiding was an apartment building on the more rundown side of town. Two stories, brick front, and tall skinny windows that were almost all but shattered (with most of them being boarded up)—the picture of destitute…the almost stereotypical location for a drug den. From their intel, the building had most of its rooms gutted and interior walls ripped out, leaving wide open space. A shitty situation for someone who may have wanted to live there long ago, but advantageous to Gavin and the others. Wide spaces meant less room to hide. From their intel, they knew most of the androids were being held in one of the upstairs areas. Not sure where exactly, but they were most likely being held in what was an old laundry room—the vents and piping leading out of that area suggested as much. The Red Ice, from what they knew, was being made on the first floor in what used to be the kitchen.

They had accounted for this to be a larger raid than normal, which is why Anderson’s and Gavin’s groups of four weren’t the only ones in the raid. They had another two vehicle’s worth of people, twelve more people in total, to get the operation under way. One group was assigned to help Anderson clear out the first floor while the other’s job was to help Gavin on the second. Although Gavin and his group needed to clear out the second, they were also tasked with keeping an eye out for the androids. (Why _he_ was assigned that task and not someone more… ‘people-oriented’ like Connor was beyond him.)

Everything had been doing smoothly. With little gunfire exchanged, Anderson’s group and the other group had quickly cleared out the first floor and detained the distributors, leaving Gavin’s group and the additional group to move up to the second floor.

What they had _not_ accounted for was an Other being amongst the Red Ice guys.

The Other was a human, skinny and willow-like in build, with unnaturally white hair that didn’t fit his age. They first got a sight of him when they climbed up the stairs, and that was when everything started to go to hell.

The Other caught sight Gavin and Nines first. Once the surprise fled from his body, a large smile split his face. “Well, well, well! I never expected to see someone like me here today!” The temperature of the room started to drop suddenly, and soon all of their breaths were visible in front of their faces. Gavin wondered why Connor had deviated from Anderson’s group, but when he glanced from the corner of his eye, his stomach churned.

Connor wasn’t with them.

The Other continued, “And here I thought I was just going to be killing some humans when I heard all that commotion from downstairs. Isn’t today my lucky day” his face twisted into something more sinister as ice began to collect into shards on his fingertips, “that I get to drain an Otherworldly android. I bet your thirium will taste great in some Red Ice.”

Nines glared at the Other while seamlessly stepping in front of Gavin. The shadows at his feet darkened to pure black and began to trail up his legs to his hands, staining them like ink until claws manifested over them. 

The white-haired Other took one step forward and that was all Gavin needed.

“Don’t move!” he shouted as he whipped out his gun and aimed it at the guy, safety off. This wasn’t a regular human—he couldn’t take any chances, or he may not make it out of here alive. Without taking his eyes off the Other, he directed his command to the newbies and additional group that were behind him and Nines. “Fall back and find Anderson’s group. Now.” Although Others were hard to detain as a human, it would be impossible to keep both him and the newbies safe.

“But, sir!” One of them started before the other newbie pulled him back.

The fleeing of the recruits seemed to invite the Other to consider them. He didn’t step forward anymore, but he did slowly raise his hands with a smile still on his face. Gavin was pretty certain he was only amusing them. “Now that those earaches are gone, I have to say, it’s an honor to meet you, Mr. RK900 of the DPD. I’ve heard a lot about you and your abilities! I would bow, of course, but as you can see, I’d rather not get shot today.”

Wait, heard?

Nines tilted his head, claws still out. “How have you heard of my abilities? I am neither overly public nor cavalier with them as you appear to be.”

The guy giggled. “Oopsies! Wasn’t supposed to say that. Let’s just say there are a lot of people that are interested in the Others of the DPD.” Frost started to coat the floors and the walls as the Other’s face held an expression that looked between a cross of creeped out and smug. A beat later, his brows creased together as his smile twitched downward. “You two shadow Others…such disturbing little freakshows you are.”

_Don’t fucking call him a freakshow, you little shit stain._ “You’re under arrest for the creation and distribution of Red Ice and the kidnapping and murder of androids.” Gavin warned him, “Come with us, and your probably won’t get hurt. Let’s do this easy.”

This time a vicious sneer pulled the Other’s face. “I think not.”

And before any of them knew it, the Other swept his arm forward in a deceptively powerful movement, hurling ice shards at them. Gavin ducked down, but he knew he wasn’t gonna hit the floor in time. That being said, he was confident Nines had his back—and it turned out to be just that. Dense shadow surged upward with Nines’s own sweep of his hands. Ice shattered against shadow, spraying small crystals everywhere. “Get back, Detective!”

“Fuck! Nines!” Gavin yelled as he got as far back as he could without leaving the floor. There wasn’t anywhere to hide in the wide-open floor plan. He retrained his gun on the Other, doing his best to keep up with the now moving assailant. “Do your thing!”

Shadow claws out, Nines ran towards the Other and aimed for his torso. The Other dodged body intact, but shirt torn to pieces. He growled and retuned an ice-covered fist to Nines’s head.

Nines brought up his arms to guard against the hit. A heavy crack resounded as crystalline ice hit his arms. To Gavin’s surprise, Nines was actually pushed back a little. He couldn’t see Nines’s face, but he could tell that his partner was shocked as well.

_The hell was this guy?_

The Other came in for another heavy hit and it was blocked again. Nines was once more pushed back, this time whole foot. “Did that surprise you?! I guess the Big Bad Shadow Monster of the DPD is having trouble against spindly little me, huh?” Another grin broke across the Other’s face.

Nines growled, sound coming from deep in his chest. It wasn’t one that was a human register. “You talk too much,” he snarled and pushed back against the Other, sending him flying away.

The Other skid across the floor, ice following his wake. He pushed himself up faster than expected and slammed his hands on the floor. Spikes of ice shot of from the floor. One caught Nines in the leg, but the RK900 barely stumbled even as blue thirium spilled on the ice. Even Gavin had to change positions as the shards came dangerously close to him.

“Be fucking careful!”

“I know, Detective!”

Ice and shadow were exchanged once more. The sounds became louder and louder as the hits became heavier and more brutal. One slug caught Nines in the shoulder, which made him falter for just a moment, but he was quick to return a hit. A sharp, black claw gouged a four deep lines into the Other’s leg, which made him stumble. Before either of them could use the openings, ice met shadow once again. The collide made a hard, grinding sound that made Gavin want to cover his ears. He couldn’t with his hands holding his weapon.

More and more, the Otherworldly men met in clashes. More frost crept up the walls and the floor like a supernatural disease—which, if he thought about it, wasn’t so far off the mark. The more blows were met, the colder the room was growing. He could even feel it through his gear; his fingers were starting to numb in his gloves. He was about to shift positions when a line of ice was sent shooting down the hallway. Nines, the original target meant for it, was able to dodge with his speed. Gavin couldn’t get out of the way in time, and the hit caught his leg, sending him crashing to the floor.

He cried out as he hit the floor. It was like a car slammed into his thigh.

Nines whipped around, hearing the noise. “Detective!”

“Ah! So you’re fond of that regular human over there, huh?” Even from the ground yards away from the two of them, Gavin could see the almost blinding white of the Other’s irises glowing against the disturbing blue of his sclera. “Maybe I should just kill him then!”

A long javelin was sent screaming towards Gavin and the only thing the human detective could do was watch as it grew nearer with growing horror.

Nines snarled as he threw his shadows to the javelin. Thin, ink-black small hands sliced and crushed the thing to pieces, and that should have been the end of that thing.

It wasn’t and Gavin found that out as one of the fragments that came off the javelin pierced him before he could blink.

In one second, he felt nothing, then in the next, he felt _everything._

He screamed.

Nines roared.

Black and cobalt flooded the upstairs.

* * *

He didn’t know when he blacked out, but he woke up to the sound of _loud_ growling reverberating from above him. Hell, he could even feel it through his own body. For a second, he froze, thinking he was about to be attacked by a wild dog, but then everything came rushing back to him—the raid, the white-haired Other, the ice, Nines.

Nines.

_Oh Jesus Christ, that’s Nines_. Gavin shifted his body, incredibly cognizant of the pain radiating from his hip and leg, in order to see Nines better. When he did, he felt cold all over again, and it had nothing to do with the lingering frost on the walls and floor. Nines was fully hunched over him, trying to shield him from view. His eyes were a blazing fire of cobalt, shining so bright and angry. His lips were pulled back in a vicious, fierce snarl, and his modded teeth were on full display, sharp and lethal. The shadows that had covered his hands had now completely risen to engulf his arms in their entirety.

Even from his odd angle on the ground, Gavin could see some shadow hands arcing from Nines as they curved to the floor acting like bars to a birdcage—extra protection. He shivered, but felt a heat pulse immediately after. It was then that he realized that there was a pool of shadows directly underneath him. They felt warm. If he were to give in to the exhaustion and pain that was racking his body, he could have slipped into those shadows, resting submerged in them like they were a hot bath. He had to be careful—he didn’t think passing out again would be such a good idea. He didn’t know how much blood he had lost, but he wasn’t keen in finding out. Despite the unnatural Otherworldly pool of blackness underneath him and the extra shadow arms caging around him, they did not make him fear for his life.

He wasn’t scared of Nines.

He was scared _for_ Nines, because he had never seen him this unhinged before. 

Where was the Other? Had he been arrested yet? Killed? Gavin was dizzy and in so much goddamn fucking shitty pain that his whole body felt like it was on fire and cold and, Jesus, was he sweating right now? He let out an involuntary groan that only made Nines press himself closer to him.

_Is he still going against the Other?_ With that thought, he focused more on his surroundings, and in doing so, he was able to locate the Other crumpled into a pile of body, white hair, and pink-tinged slush on the far side of one of the walls. The shadow arms were blocking the rest of the view of the body, and he was relieved at that. He didn’t think he wanted to see what happened to the guy. But if the Other had been taken care of, the question of who Nines was protecting him against still remained unanswered. Was there an additional Other they hadn’t encountered? Were there men hopped up on Red Ice in front of them?

In order not to cause Nines even greater cause to fly off the handle, Gavin twisted his upper body in the slowest movements possible. Every little twitch of movement sent red hot pain lighting up and down his nerves that began at his hip, but after what seemed like the longest minute of his life, he was able to get into a position where he could see better. He wished he hadn’t. Breath was punched out of his lungs when he recognized the two sets of shoes in his field of vision. A pair of large raid-issue boots that had an aged streak of yellow paint near the toe and a pair of men’s dark Chelsea boots.

The tendrils beginning to curl and rise around the boots confirmed who he knew it to be.

Connor’s voice filled his ears somehow through the deep rumble above him. He sounded as if he had been talking for a while. How long had Gavin been out? “Nines,” Connor’s tone was full-blown negotiator mode, “Nines, please. You have to let us see Gavin. He is injured and needs medical attention.”

Nines did not seem to hear or register what was said as he just kept snarling at Anderson and Connor.

Gavin lightly smacked a wrist that was near his shoulder. “Nines! That’s your bro-for-life or whatever over there and that old reformed drunk you like. Calm down!”

All the RK900 did hide more of Gavin from sight, to the human’s immense displeasure.

The Detective twisted his head and was finally able to see more than just floor, shoes, and legs. The sight that he was met with wasn’t all that better. Anderson was behind Connor, body tense and all his attention locked onto Nines. He looked as worried as Gavin felt, arms slightly away from his body and body almost completely still. Gavin didn’t ever think he’d seen the older man that still in his life since the accident. It was like he was in the middle of a lion pit in a zoo…and the more he thought about it, the more apt that comparison seemed to be.

If Anderson was stressed, than Connor looked terrible. The android, from what Gavin knew, was specially made for high-tension situations—he’d seen that airing of his mission as a negotiator on a rooftop when the deviant situation had started. This situation was different, though. Different people, different factors, different outcome. Deadlier outcome. Even though he could tell that Connor was trying his best to present a calm, controlled composure, seeing Nines like this (and Gavin being stuck underneath him—and _not_ the fun way he’d imagined being underneath him) was starting to get to him. The guy looked like he wanted to slip into his habit of wringing his hands to fight his anxiety. His hands, instead, were displayed palms outward in a placating manner, trying to get Nines to calm down. The room’s temperature was fluctuating again, and his shadows were starting to become agitated despite his best efforts.

_Shit._ Connor’s abilities acting up only spoke to how stressed the tinman must have been feeling. Not good, not good, not good.

“Gavin,” Connor called to him, eyes trained on Nines, “how confident are you on your ability to move?” His tone wasn’t reassuring.

Moving honestly sounded like the worst thing right now. He did, however, test it by flexing his leg, and then immediately regretted it when hot white pain lanced through his lip down to his leg. A vulgar swear almost pushed out of him, but he swallowed it back. “I’d say one-hundred percent confident, but only after freaking subtracting five-hundred from that.” He saw more than heard a ‘fuck’ falling from Connor’s lips, and _that_ made Gavin truly begin to worry. “…Why do you ask?”

Before either Hank or Connor could give an answer, a long and drawn out growl ripped out of Nines’s body louder than before as the man began to hunch over himself more. It was like watching a beast preparing to strike.

“Our abilities are tied to our emotions. Nines has good reign over his usually, but…” brown eyes met his and Gavin knew him getting shot like a dumbass was the trigger for all this, “this is different. I can sense him getting worse. Normally I could calm him down, but this is different.”

Hank’s step back was turtle-slow. “For fuck’s sake, this is not how I wanted to die today.” Morbid as it was, Gavin had to agree. Despite the situation, he could tell Hank wasn’t scared of Nines, even now. To Nines, Hank said with urgency, “C’mon Thing Two, you know it’s us. We ain’t here to harm your favorite trash mongoose over there. Let us help him and you.”

A shadow claw shot out to Hank but was quickly batted away by a tendril from Connor.

“Hank,” Connor said, tone careful but voice slow. His eyes began to glow red behind the normal brown of his irises, “I am going to need you to get back now.”

“Already ahead of you.”

The reverberating was growing in volume and was beginning to hurt Gavin’s ears with him being right under Nines. He could feel the pool of shadows underneath his body slowly increase in their roiling. It was like laying on a waterbed—if the waterbed had bubbling, almost uncomfortably hot water in it. He could hear the broken repeated phrase trickling through the growling of ‘ _don’t touch…don’t touch…don’t touch_. _’_

“Nines, I’m fine! You need to stand down!” he called out to his partner, teetering more and more on desperation.

Gavin saw Connor take small step forward. “Nines—”

He felt before he saw that that one particular step was the one that was too much.

_“Get away!”_ A truly loud roar broke from Nines’s chest as he lunged his full body weight in the direction of Connor and Anderson. Gavin flinched from the power and movement of the jump as the shadows left him quicker than he could register. 

“Nines, no!”

“Fucking hell!” Anderson leaped out of the way and just barely missed being trampled by Connor as he was backpedaling from Nines’s attack.

He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. This wasn’t a spar; this wasn’t a friendly match between the RKs.

This was a full-on, full stakes fight. Connor was on full defensive while Nines was pure attack mode. Shadows hit shadows, blows hit blows. Each time the shadows clashed against one another, a horrible droning moan-like sound ground between them. It was the sound of friction-less friction, the grinding of material not meant to have any sort of physicality. It was unnatural. The hair on the back of Gavin’s neck stood up when he heard it.

Connor wasn’t able to dodge a clawed fist to his stomach, and the hit propelled him into the ground. Gavin winced when he heard the heavy thud the android made as he hit the ground, hoping the tinman’s back wasn’t broken. Nines rushed Connor with fervor, but Connor wasn’t down for the count. “Argh!” The man whipped one of his shadow tendrils around Nines’s abdomen, and used the momentum of the larger android to fling him in a curved throw away from him.

“Hank!” Connor called out with the second he had afforded himself, heaving himself from the floor with heavy movements. “Have you made sure no one comes up here?” _Good call_.

“They know it’s not safe, yeah!”

Nines crashed into a drywall, sending plaster and dust flying everywhere. It only made seemed to make him more furious if that was possible. “Get…away…away…. **away**!” Each ‘away’ was punctuated with him ripping himself from the drywall until he was free. He tore towards Connor once more.

The whole upstairs grew darker and darker until it appeared to be almost like twilight, enough for general things but not specific details. Connor and Nines, however, could only just be made out as they blended with the deep shadows of the corners and their own abilities. Crimson and cobalt eyes shone prominently in the ink-in-water atmosphere, streaking like fast-moving vehicle taillights as they met each other again and again and again.

This was crazy.

This couldn’t be happening.

This couldn’t be Nines.

This couldn’t be Connor trying to protect not only Gavin’s life, but both Nines’s and his own.

Maybe it was the blood loss, maybe it was the cold continuously sinking into his body, but the more he looked at Nines, the more his brain kept drudging up memories.

_Late nights between him and Nines were common with their jobs. The comfort of a dark, quiet room shared between them; however, was something he didn’t mind in those late nights. The lights were dimmed, almost dark, and all he could really see were two things: their cats’ eyes almost beaming at him and the bright glowing blue of Nines’s eyes. He watched cobalt blue flashlight eyes slowly blink at their two cats who gave their own little slow blinks in return._

He tracked glowing cobalt blues in the dark and he knew they weren’t eyes of his calm, dorky robot partner. These were Nines’s hunter eyes. They weren’t glowing out of happiness or comfort, but with anger and a need to protect.

_Casually laying next to one another always ended up in a cuddle session. Nines was playfully snapping at Gavin’s fingers with modded teeth as Gavin touched his face. He caressed his dotted cheeks in soft sweeping motions of his thumb, stroked the bridge of his nose, brushed the swell of his lips…_

Those teeth weren’t those that playfully nipped at him or smiled at him when Gavin caressed his face. They were snapping at Connor with full intention to bite him through, to rip his limbs from his body and crush his chassis.

_Nines was an ever-efficient model, always doing something and making sure he did the best at what he did. This lent to multi-tasking like Gavin had never seen. At their home, it became normal to see a few of Nines’s shadow hands doing this and that. Nines used them to get cleaning done in no time flat, to grab Gavin when he wanted a hug but didn’t want to verbally say it, or just grab his thirium gummies from the pantry without leaving the couch when Gavin was pressed against him._

His shadows weren’t multitasking to be efficient like he normally would. They were going crazy, shadow hands lashing out and attacking Connor’s wild shadows. He knew Nines would never do that if he had a clear mind.

Gavin was cold and it was beginning to be hard to focus.

_“Ahh!”_ A yell from Connor, however, shocked him back to some form of semi-clarity. He was horrified as he watched thirium splash against onto the floor when Nines’s claw shredded through Connor’s shoulder.

His arm was immobilized, and Nines knew it, going in for the kill.

Connor wasn’t having it as he yelled again, effort lacing every bit of it, and pierced a thick tendril through Nines’s knee. The grinding of metal and wet splatter. Nines screeched, and Gavin’s chest clenched at the sound. More thirium sprayed onto the floor.

This had to stop.

Shit, shit, what could he do? He shared a look with Anderson who looked equally horror-struck and aghast, stuck about fifteen feet away from Gavin. “At this rate, they’re gonna be more thirium than android if they keep at it,” Anderson lamented as he slowly crept towards Gavin in order not to draw Nines’s attention. (He didn’t really have to, as Nines was pretty occupied with still attacking Connor even with a damn _hole_ in his now defective leg.)

“The hell are we supposed to do then?” He hissed at him.

“You’re not going to like this, but we may have to shoot him.”

“You are _not_ shooting my partner, you old crumpled beer can!”

“Listen, we don’t have a choice! We’re both human and if he really decides to turn all that rage on us—or rather, me—I’m not making it out of here.” He didn’t sound happy about any of this, and if Gavin were to be fair with him, this was a difficult situation. He knew the older man cared for Nines and Connor equally, and would do anything to keep either of them safe. This was beyond his capabilities, though, Gavin’s as well. “If I shoot him, he’s gonna come barreling right at me, and I ain’t sure Con’s gonna be able to move in time.”

“ _Phck!_ ” The stress, the wound in his hip, and every fan-freaking-tastic thing that was happening right now was making his verbal tick more prominent. He was going to have to do it.

That horrible droning moan-like sound of friction-less friction resounded once again, and both Gavin and Anderson spun their heads to see Connor and Nines locked in a stalemate grapple. Tendrils and shadow hands grinded against each other. The androids were visibly struggling, with Connor grappling to keep Nines restrained and Nines straining to somehow escape and attack. Over a long shriek from Nines, Connor tossed his head back, eyes clenched with the effort he was exerting, and yelled, “Whatever you’re going to do, do it now! I can’t hold him like this much longer!”

Now or never.

Through the cold jitters coursing through his body, he scrambled to pick up his service weapon from its spot a foot away from him. Somehow it felt heavier than it had ever been—he was acutely aware of the weight of the metal in his hand as he aimed it at his out of control partner. Watching him bleed on the ground, yelling and growling at Connor and using all of his strength to attack him, it hurt Gavin. It made his whole heart ache to see him not like himself…all because of him.

He had to do this.

If anyone else came up here, Gavin was afraid to admit that Nines would probably hurt them (and worse).

If Hank tried to stop him, the man wouldn’t make it.

If Connor kept trying to restrain and stop Nines, it didn’t seem likely that both of them would make it out intact. They were already heavily injuring one another as it was.

Taking a deep breath, he swallowed the bile that was rising in his throat and shouted in the loudest voice he could managed. _“ **Nines**!”_

Furious cobalt eyes whipped around to meet his.

He shot his gun. 

Everything happened before he could truly register it, seemingly in one moment. When he had yelled Nines’s name, he had writhed away from Connor’s grasp, injuring his leg further and sending Connor rolling away. The bullet was shot, and because he had moved from his original position, the shot struck him in the jaw instead of the actuator in his back that connected to his legs. The force from the bullet cracked his head back. Synthskin disappeared from his face and his white chassis was visible. Shattered and cracked on the side, it was an ugly sight. Not even a blink of time later, and Nines dug his claws into the ground in order to gain more traction as he sent himself leaping towards Gavin. There was yelling and he was pretty sure his name was being called in all directions, but all the noise was one loud symphony of chaos. All he saw coming for him were blazing eyes and shadow claws.

He closed his eyes.

He wasn’t scared.

The rush of noise and yelling was there in one moment and then gone in the next. After several hard beats of his heart, he took a breath and opened his eyes.

Clear, light blue eyes beheld him from a pale, thirium-streaked face. Black flecks of shadow floated away like cinders from a fire and shadows began to slowly retreat away from Nines’s body.

Nines, uncharacteristically stuttered through heaving breaths like he just ran a marathon, “G-Gavin…?”

Relief washing over him, he gave a reassuring smile. “See, you big scary toaster? Knew you would have my back,” he said softly as set his lowered weapon aside. He reached to Nines’s face and took it in his hands, holding him. He felt shaking in the other’s body and saw wet thirium seep onto his gloved hand. Feeling Nines shake made him aware of his own shivering, but he pushed that aside for now. Cold and pain and injuries could wait because Nines was back to himself, back to the man that he loved.

He brushed away the tears that had started falling from his partner’s eyes. “I’m here, it’s okay,” he said. 

And then he passed out.

“Gavin, please, I am so sorry.”

“If you bring me over another pillow,” he groused from the mountain of six large pillows he was already buried under, “I’m gonna take one of these and smother you with it.”

It was a weak threat. The sweet, sweet pain medicine coursing through his veins sucked out most of the energy he had.

Raid completed, androids found, and drugs collected, they were in the hospital at an ungodly hour of the night. Gavin had undergone minor surgery to repair the damage done to his hip. Nothing broken, but he did have a fracture that would cause him to be on medical leave for a while. Walking was going to suck to the max. Additionally, the impact to his leg left a spectacular bruise that was the color of dog vomit. The other smaller bruises and nicks and such were superficial and would only heal in their own with time.

Connor, to his knowledge, was going under repairs right now to fix his shoulder. The arm, from what he remembered seeing in the building, wasn’t going to be able to be reattached, so Connor was going to be armless until a replacement came.

Anderson was at the DPD right now turning in his report. He had checked on Gavin and Nines earlier and promised to bring them stuff they wanted. Some gummies for Nines and a hoodie, contraband pizza, and coffee for Gavin. He would check on Connor when he came back to the hospital once the procedure was finished.

Gavin was looking from his pillow mound on his hospital bed at Nines. His partner had undergone his own repairs, but was still waiting on a replacement knee and leg. He was going to be down a limb, like Connor. Even though he had been made to stay in his own room, somehow the man had managed to sneak into Gavin’s room. Crutch in one hand and an IV stand (with IV still connected to him) in the other, he had brought three pillows from his own room. How he had managed to do so while trying to balance with the crutch and IV stand, the Detective didn’t know. It was a sight, to say the least. 

“Nothing to be sorry over, toast-maker.”

Nines expression killed him. Oh God, how was the RK900 pulling off a kicked puppy look like that? His face wasn’t even really doing anything, but dammit, Gavin knew those eyes all too well. “Still—”

Nuh-uh, he knew where this was going. He shoved a few pillows off his bed to the side. Careful of the various IV’s and cords connected to him, he managed to scooch himself over and then patted the space next to him. He sent Nines a look that full on meant ‘get your butt over here.’ The other man hesitated for a moment before conceding, hobbling over until he could press his body as close to Gavin as possible. The red line that was Gavin’s blood IV crossed over the blue one of Nines’s thirium IV as Gavin raised to arm to reach over and hold him close, hand between his shoulder blades. He felt a hand come up and slide through his hair before resting there. They laid there quiet for an immeasurable amount of time. 

“I love you,” was said into his neck. Nines’s lips were warm and the vibration of his voice so close to his ear was soothing.

“Love you, too,” he replied with a kiss to a freckled forehead.

They would be having a proper discussion about everything—what happened, medical leave for Gavin, mandatory leave for Nines to work with a therapist, etc.—later, but for right now, cuddling was much needed.

Now, it was time to rest.

* * *

Published: 8/23/2020

A/N: If you like my stuff, you can find me over at my Twitter [@elreyciervo](https://twitter.com/el_rey_ciervo) and my tumblr [**@elreyciervo** ](https://elreyciervo.tumblr.com/)(even though I haven't been posting much fic stuff on tumblr lately). Also, WolftenDragon is super cool, and you should check them out [**@DireWolften**](https://twitter.com/WolftenDragon) on Twitter! 


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